Synchronize
by stmidget
Summary: Story takes place after Maxine involuntarily rewinds back to her first class with Jefferson, in which he was captured along with Nathan Prescott during that week. No tornado/storm AU.
1. Happiness Over Distance

_A Pricefield AU where no storm happened, and Mark Jefferson was busted after Maxine involuntarily rewinded back from the start of the game. Mainly focused between Chloe and Maxine's relationship, but revelations and happenings will be happening here and then._

PS: Maxine **never** _wanted to shorten her name here to "Max", simply because I like the name itself, and it really suits herfrom the meaning itself (I think it was something like "noble" or "the greatest", not really sure, you can PM me if u know the meaning :D)_

 ***CHAPTER 1*  
**

* * *

Maxine, to no surprise, went to San Francisco for the Everyday Heroes contest. She never thought the simple, silly picture of her with the "Max Caulfield Photo Memorial" will be published and seen by judges and other winners. "Artists" as she would like to say it.

 ***Flashback***

"Can't you see I'm talking to Mr. Jefferson?" Victoria sternly implied. "I can see you're kissing ass again. Nothing new" Maxine fearlessly blurted.

Surprised by the reply, Victoria replied, "What did you just say?" raising her tone a bit higher. "Hold on, Victoria. Are you okay, Max?" Jefferson trying to cut off.

"Not until Victoria knows that hiding behind a screen and posting videos of people is TOTALLY FUCKED UP. You know how easy it is to hurt somebody, to destroy their life? Are YOU proud of yourself? If you have ANY feelings left, you should reconsider your actions." Maxine angrily stated.

"Listen. I-I didn't..." Victoria lowly replies, but was cut off by Maxine.

"Of course you did. You're so insecure you can't be even happy with your own talent. You have to try and bring everybody down to your mean and ugly level." "Okay, I do NOT need to listen to this bullshit, do I, Mr. Jefferson?" Victoria asks.

"W-Well, it looks like you already did, Victoria." Jefferson states. "Then I-I guess I'm done talking." Victoria replies, still surprised by the situation. "I SURE hope so." Maxine emphasizing Victoria's statement.

"Um. I'm not going to say I didn't enjoy that, but...why?" Jefferson asks. "HERE'S my photograph for the "Everyday Heroes" contest." Maxine replies.

"U-Um, th-that was easy." Jefferson replies, somehow trying to NOT be a bit nervous. "NO. That wasn't easy. At all" Maxine coldly replies. "W-Well, I-I can't pre-judge yet, but I'm very h-happy you decided to enter. That means... a lot to me, and Blackwell. Th-The first step for any artist is to put themselves out there, in the world, without fear. To be... innocent" Jefferson hesitantly replies. "OR guilty" Maxine coldly emphasizes.

"U-Uh, well. Th-Thanks for the photo, and m-maybe both of us will be jet-setting to San Francisco this Friday" Jefferson states, still with hesitation. "Or maybe only ONE of us will be going" Maxine coldly but fearlessly states.

"Don't be so modest, Max. Anything can happen within a week" Jefferson states with a smirk, but so as with uncertainty. "As you're going to find out, Mr. Jefferson" Maxine states, ending the conversation.

And with that happening, Jefferson and Nathan is arrested during the week, Kate didn't commit suicide, and Rachel Amber's body was found, giving Rachel's death justice. Chloe was still sad about that, but at least now the case was solved.

 ***End of flashback***

Chloe, back in Arcadia Bay, was sad that Maxine have to leave for like a week or two, but that can't top out how happy she feels for her girlfriend. She's been congratulating her non-stop. Sometimes she types so fast that her hands ache, but she didn't care.

 **Chloe: HOLY SHIT U RULE MAX! i am so proud of my superstar. this is just the start of your career  
Chloe: Kinda sad you have to leave for the contest, but you DON'T KNOW HOW HAPPY I AM FOR YOU BABY! so much that I exclaimed the shit to Joyce, and she's planning to celebrate your success once you're back here.  
Chloe: Oh and David was happy as well, and I kinda noticed he's not that hard-ass anymore. Still overprotective but can be handled. :D  
Chloe: I had to betray myself for a bit because of that emoji, but you deserve it baby.**

Max laughs a bit about how Chloe typed all of that, but at the same time she can assure that she's gonna be spending a happy life with her again once she come back from the contest.

For once, Max can now say, that she fixed everything.

Everything happened so fast during that week. People recognized and congratulated Maxine's work, some even asking questions regarding her submission, enjoying everything in the buffet (except the caviar, which she really disgusts), and everything else is history.

One thing she enjoyed the most during that week though, was that time when she stayed in a 4-star hotel, as part of their prize in the contest. Luckily, she brought her laptop and pocket Wi-fi, in case connection was shit in the hotel (which she dumbly thinks, considering that it was a 4-star hotel. Facepalm, Maxine.) She was pretty tired during that day staying in that gallery because of that contest, so she just grabs a pillow and sits-up with her laptop on her lap, opening Skype and chatting with Chloe's and her parents as well. _HOLY SHIT, I CAN'T BELIEVE JOYCE INVITED MY PARENTS,_ Maxine thought to herself. They all congratulated her, with her mom trying to hide that she was crying with tears of joy, in which Maxine laughs a bit. "Thanks, Mom. I would love to be with you guys again. 3 more days, guys" Maxine said with a wide grin on her face.

" _Alright Mr. and Mrs. Caulfield. Me and Maxine have a confession to make. So as to both of you, mom and David._ " Chloe blurts excitingly.

Max was surprised. Sure she knew that she would have to say their relationship to both of their parents, but still, it was a bit unexpected. Especially on just a Skype video call. She was a bit unprepared for her parent's reactions. _Sigh. I guess this is it_ , Maxine thought.

"Mom, please don't get angry or anything. I beg of you" Maxine states.  
" _I am too proud of my daughter to be upset right now. Just say it honey._ " Vanessa states happily.  
 _I hope that smile lingers after I say this_ , Maxine said in monotone. "Mom, me and Chloe are-" Maxine tried to said, but was cut off by someone talking in the video call.  
" _Jesus, Maxine. I thought it a new happening. But let me say this, who wouldn't expect that already? It's SOOOO evident honey._ " Vanessa happily states.  
 _WHAT? HOW? WHEN?_ , Maxine thought to herself. "H-How did you know Mom?!" Maxine blurts out in the video call, still shocked.

" _Well. We pretty much knew THAT 5 years ago. We thought it was just you and Chloe trying to not break both of your friendship, but considering your age at that time, me and Ryan realized 'Okay, this is love happening. Who knew.' And because of that, me and Ryan totally, TOTALLY regretted making you come back with us honey. There was already a thing going in between you two, but we killed that because of us moving in to Seattle. I'm very, very sorry honey._ " Vanessa states, tearing up.

" _Well, considering that you're together again with Chloe, me and Vanessa can now say this. We're no homophobic, what do you expect? So we fully consent the relationship between you two_ " Ryan states with a laugh, while patting Chloe's shoulder.  
" _So do we, Maxine._ " Joyce and David stated in unison.

"Y-You guys make me act like a crybaby now. Th-Thank you so much" Maxine states in the call while sobbing, but of happiness. She can't contain this kind of happiness, not now at least, but she's super happy that she can just exclaim it at the top of her lungs.

Now Maxine can say, she and Chloe are official.

" _Just don't get too noisy if you're about to do the_ thing, _okay honey?_ " Ryan jokingly states. Vanessa punches him slightly in his arm, while Joyce and David laugh. Chloe was trying to hide her face, too embarrassed.

"Hah-hah Dad. You and your slightly green statements." Maxine states in the call.

After 2 hours of chatting, eventually Maxine said goodbye. She needs to sleep for the event tomorrow, herself being awarded along with the winners. Artists, she thought.

 ***The next day***

Max groans from her bad, waking up, but was worth it, mainly because the bed was as soft as a pile of bunnies, cats and ducks. _Imagine lying with those floofs_ , she thought. But sleeping with Chloe was more satisfying for her. Which reminds her that she has 2 more days before she can go back to Arcadia Bay, and meet Chloe with her parents again. Of course, she still has to talk more details regarding her relationship with Chloe to her parents, but considering what happened during that call yesterday, she's not nervous of it, but more of happy.

It was still 7 am, and the awarding doesn't start until 3 pm, so she still has a lot of time to do things. The question is, what would she do in the 8-hour allotment? Without Chloe, she can't imagine what would she do. Until, of course, she stared at her camera.

She asked Principal Wells that she'll be out going to parks and recreation places nearby, in which the principal stated "Go on, Maxine. The program doesn't start till afternoon, so feel free to do whatever you want." And Maxine humbly thanks the principal.

She decided to wander around the nearby park, taking pictures of her surroundings, which was a bit surreal cause it looked surprisingly beautiful than she could imagine. A nice balance of modernization and nature, so serene that she can't believe it. And then she saw THAT butterfly again. _A good opportunity for a photo op_ , she thought.

Everything else was pretty normal at least, went to the mall and played in game zones (like Tekken 6 and Super B-ball Jam), eating fast food but reconsidering to try new things like sushi.

She got back to the hotel by 2 pm. Max was pretty tired after all she did, and a bit sad cause Chloe was absent on everything she did today, but was nevertheless happy, knowing that she already confessed their relationship to both of their parents. She decided to take a bit of a cold shower and change her clothes. She wanted to at least look presentable during the awarding.

Everything else that happened after that was pretty okay. She decided to call it a day, and slept before her flight back to Arcadia Bay tomorrow at 1 pm.

 ***Flashback*  
**

 **Chloe: hey baby, enjoying the day?  
Maxine: Yeah. Was pretty normal, but I really wished you were here when I was doing all the things I did today. ;)  
Chloe: I sure did hope so, but I can't leave my work. Gotta make you proud at least.  
Chloe: Also, I'm starting to get less annoyed by the emojis. Just don't use them too much.  
Maxine: HAHA. Oh you. :D  
Maxine: SO, how was your day?  
Chloe: Eh. Pretty much normal as well. I mean, me and my boss doesn't have that much customers yet since it's still new, but it's doing good so far.  
Chloe: Also, I miss you already.  
Maxine: Don't worry baby, flight's in 1 pm tomorrow, so I guess we'll be back in like 3 pm tomorrow.  
Chloe: Sweet. You'll be up for a surprise once you get here. Xoxo  
Maxine: Ohohoho. First Mate has surprises up her sleeves. Impressive. :D  
Chloe: Y'all see it eventually, Captain Caulfield. Or Future Price.  
Maxine: alright babe, gotta sleep for the flight tomorrow. Love you.  
Chloe: Love you as well  
**Now Maxine can't wait. What's this surprise Chloe is hiding? And just thinking of that phrase ' _Future Price_ ' makes her heart flutter.

She reaches out for her phone, and plugs in her earphones, playing Synchronize by Hellberg as the starting song, and setting it to shuffle. She'll sleep this off, and hope for the best tomorrow.

* * *

 ***END OF CHAPTER 1*  
**

* * *

So, I just wanna say that this is **literally** my first fanfic, and I would appreciate it if you guys send reviews regarding the story, or directly PM me. Seriously, it helps me so much, 'cause I really want to improve in writing (which I suck at doing, along with dancing LOL).


	2. Seattle Times

***CHAPTER 2***

* * *

" _N-Not yet. Wait, Chloe!_ "  
Maxine gasped as she walks and sits up abruptly. What kind of stupid nightmare was that?

Groaning as she stands up from her bed, Maxine went in search of her phone, which was somehow underneath the bed's pillows.

It was already 8:45 am. Not feeling _that_ hungry, she lies back down to the bed, thinking about Chloe and her happy moments with her girlfriend so as to forget that weird nightmare. Hah, nightmare. Maybe she was just overreacting, _as if Chloe can leave me_ , Maxine thought. After spending an hour lying down in bed that seemed to be taking like forever, she then proceeded to take a cold shower.

As cold water runs down against her petite body, it was just then that her nerves calmed down. Why was she feeling nervous? _What bad situation could happen?_ Maxine thought. Just as she was about to finish her shower and dry herself, she heard her phone ring back in the center of her bed. She rushed to up to the phone, finding 10 unread messages.

 **Kate: This is a bit late, but congratulations for making it into the "Everyday Heroes" contest. Sorry I hadn't seen you before your flight to San Francisco.  
** Max giggles. _Oh Kate, thanks for that_ , she thought.  
 **Chloe: Good morning, Captain.  
Chloe: Still in bed, I see. Well, your First Mate shall set sail. Off to work. Talk to you in 12  
** _Good job Maxine, you missed your girlfriend's morning greeting. Sigh.  
_ **Victoria: Um, I don't know what to say but, you deserve to win the contest. At least that psychopath teacher is done with our lives.  
** At least the nice side of Victoria is showing off.  
 **Victoria: Just don't think I'll be friends with you suddenly, ok?  
** _Sigh. You don't need to be embarrassed_ , Maxine thought.  
 **Warren: Hey there, Maximum Power. 'Grats for making to San Francisco. Sorry if it was late, was out in the movies with Brooke, which you told me to give the ticket to. Ciao  
** Nice work, Warren.  
 **Private Number: These are Rachel Amber's parents. On behalf of Blackwell, we thank you and Chloe as well for giving our daughter's death the justice it needs. Yet a simple 'thank you' will never be enough to describe the gratitude we owe to and Chloe Price. But as of now, thank you and you will always be our "everyday hero".  
** Rachel Amber. I really never got to meet her. _The day we found her body in the junkyard is one of the most painful things me and Chloe had seen_ , Maxine thought, resisting the will to tear up.

It was still 10:15 am when she left the hotel so she decided to go to the mall when she found one of her classmates back in Seattle. Shion is his name, wearing a fitting jeans that almost reveal her form (and by form, I mean his butt), short heels and an off-yellow light shirt. Now I know what you're thinking, I bet you're saying at the back of your mind, " _Is this guy gay?_ " But nope, they said their hellos, talked in a fastfood chain nearby, and Maxine found out that her former classmate is _androgynous_. Maxine was a bit shocked. Who would've thought she would meet someone that kind of sexual identity, let alone her former classmate.

"So, how's life treating you, Maxine?" Shion asked.  
"So far, so good. Thought I really miss Arcadia bay." Maxine replies, blushing a bit about the thought of Chloe waiting for her there.  
"I see. My friends and I kinda miss you too as well, Max. We were never close but, you're a nice girl. I bet your Arcadia Bay folks have that in their mind as well." Shion stated.  
Maxine giggles. "Thanks, Shion. Also, I was bit shocked about your sexual identity. You're the first one that I've met with androgyny, to be honest."  
"Yeah, I always get that. At least you didn't think I was gay or something. Haha. It's just genetic disorder, but I've come to accept it." Shion stated.  
Maxine found it suiting for Shion to appear as a woman, which she can't believe as well. "So, what do you do with your spare time?" Maxine asked.  
"Whenever I have free time, I do a traditional wushu training. Sometimes that helps in my cosplays, whereas I would just throw this outfit I'm wearing, design a "spear" as a weapon, and act like my favorite video game character, which is androgynous as well." Shion explained.  
 _Oh man, maybe I can be a bit badass by training a bit of martial art. You know, for self-defense_ , Maxine thought.  
"Wouldn't be fair if I didn't ask you some questions as well, right? So what do you do usually, aside from photography? Got in any relationships recently?" Shion happily asked.  
Maxine was a bit surprised. Is asking someone's relationship status too common nowadays? "Um, yeah I'm in a relationship at the moment." Maxine blurted.  
"OMG! Who's the lucky guy?" Shion asked in a rush. "Or the lucky girl?" she added. That follow-up question gave Max goose bumps. How can she say that the love of her life is someone with the same gender as hers? How would Shion react? "Um, it's Chloe. We're together." Maxine replied, with her face blushing hardly.  
"Wait, I've heard you talk about Chloe back in Seattle. Is it the same Chloe?" Shion asked, with a bit of confusion.  
"Yeah, we're best friends." Maxine stated.  
"Well DAMN! You get two benefits! A best friend and a lover in one person! You're so lucky to have her!" Shion happily exclaimed. _Well that went better than expected_ , Maxine thought, exhaling.

Time passed till it was lunch time. Max said goodbye to Shion, hoping to see her someday again. She wished to see her other former classmates as well.  
"Bye Maxine. Hope you have a safe flight back to Arcadia Bay!" Shion waves happily.  
"Have a good day as well, Shion." Maxine stated.

Maxine returned to the gallery to meet Principal Wells. "Max Caulfield, the have decided to start the awarding ceremony at 1 pm so as to end the program quickly. I hope it's not a bother but we need you to be ready for it." Principal Wells stated.  
"No problem, Mr. Wells. I was starting to miss my friends back in Arcadia Bay, so the earlier, the better." Maxine replied.

For Maxine, to be awarded by her simple photo was exhilarating. It was such an honor to be listed as one of the "artists" in the ceremony.

Maxine's flight took off so while in the plane she decided to rest for the day.

She and the whole Blackwell staff the escorted her returned to Arcadia bay around 7 pm. Maxine started to hurriedly go to her dorm, and lied flat down to her bed. Then she remembered Chloe and decided to text her.

 **Maxine: Hey Chloe. Guess what?  
** It took 12 minutes for her to get a reply.  
 **Chloe: What?  
Maxine: I'm back at the dorm now! :D  
Chloe: Well, t-that was earlier than expected.  
Chloe: Also, no emoji pls  
Maxine: That stutter in the text tells me you've got something up. You okay?  
Chloe: Nah nothing to hide here.  
Maxine: Well, I would love to hang out with you today but, I'm hella tired so goodnight! :D  
Chloe: U r evil  
Chloe: Goodnight then. Sleep tight, and dream about 'nice things'.  
Maxine: Oh I will. LOL  
**Chloe panicked inside her. _OH SHIT! She's back already? B-But my 'surprise'! It's not done setting up yet!_ Chloe thought.  
Quickly, Chloe alerted Joyce and Maxine's Blackwell buds.  
 **Chloe (FWD): Max is back! We gotta hurry up our surprise for her by tomorrow morning.  
**

 ***THE NEXT DAY***

Max woke up feeling full of energy. Duh, as if she did anything strenuous yesterday.

She decided to shower ahead before anyone was awake. But something was off. It was way too silent for 7:35 am in the morning. Far more silent than she had experienced. Then suddenly, she was startled  
with 5 people on her back, all chanting "Welcome back, Maxine!"

Kate, Brooke, Dana, Juliet, and Victoria were the ones that she saw.

"G-Guys! Y-You surprised me!" Maxine stated.  
"Well, this **is** a surprise anyway, but we couldn't think of what to pull out when we got a message that you were already back in Arcadia Bay, so we just decided to surprise you first thing in the morning." Kate happily stated.  
"I had n-no choice but to drag myself in this situation. It was for the good, anyway." Victoria furthers.  
 _I can totally sense your good side now, Victoria, and it's good_ , Maxine thought. "Thanks, guys. Even with a thing this simple I'm grateful of it." Then they all group up for a hug.

This really is nice, but I wonder what Chloe's up to.  
"Well Max, we gotta go for a while though. We have…something to do first." Kate stated.  
"Well ok guys, see ya later." Maxine told them.

 **Maxine: Good morning, Chloe.  
Chloe: Oh. Um, Max, morning as well.  
Maxine: Got any plans?  
Chloe: Nope, wanna chill at my place?  
Maxine: Yeah. I got nothing to do anyway, it's Saturday.  
Chloe: Will be there at 9  
Maxine: Love you :D  
Chloe: Love you as well Maxine! Emoji forgiven.**

 _I feel that something good's gonna happen today_ , Max thought just after taking a shower. She threw out her usual pink shirt and blue jeans, with a hoodie to top it up. Plugging her earphones, she listened to The Real You by Alex Goot, which she just downloaded and liked his other songs as well.

As long as it's with Chloe, everything happening will all be good. 

***END OF CHAPTER 2***

* * *

I'm expecting for the readers to find this a bit stale, but like I said, I'm just starting out in being a writer, so you guys can always PM me or give reviews regarding the chapter. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :D


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